Is
it possible that there is yet
another school from this state
that could break onto the national
scene on a regular basis? All
signs point to the Central Florida
Knights following up on last
year’s 10-4 (CUSA-winning)
season by making more noise
in 2008. After starting out
here 0-11, head coach George
O’Leary has, in four years,
turned this program back in
the direction of annual success.

The
rich recruiting grounds here
are easily accessed from Orlando,
and O’Leary can pick and
choose from top talent that
seems so abundant, even after
the big BCS schools raid the
coffers. Save three offensive
line prospects, the last two
years have brought in speed,
speed, and even more speed.
O’Leary and his staff
have increased the overall quality
of each successive incoming
class. The result is a roster
full of passed-over talent yearning
to show their wares. Under O’Leary’s
proven (BCS level) leadership,
the sum of these modest parts
can reach their collective potential.

The
offense will become more balanced
with the talents in this all-new
backfield. Dual-threat QB Mikey
Greco means a change up from
the way the offense was run
last season, when it leaned
upon the laborious efforts of
Kevin Smith’s 450 carries,
which became the new FBS single-season
record. Of trio replacing him,
first seen will be Phillip Smith
as the feature back, but Brynn
Harvey and/or Jayson Williams
are each capable of becoming
“the man” if given
the shot. Greco’s arm
hasn’t proven so dangerous,
but it is streaky (went 11-for-12
in his first game here) and
will get more of a work out,
if for no other reason than
to keep foes honest. The experienced
line will produce results, so
it’s up to Greco to be
the variable most reflective
of whether more or less wins
come forth.

Assistant
Dave Huxtable gets the promotion
to coordinate the D, and his
first year in charge will prove
a good one. The defense is the
main reason we see UCF continuing
its reign over this fledging
conference. Almost every starter
is back from the nation’s
No.49 total defense. The line
– which replaces the most
hats – will do well since
Huxtable’s specialty is
that area, and a stellar secondary
will be one of the nation’s
best. Moreover, the corners
can do such a good job of smothering
their guys that the safeties
will be expandable as long as
there aren’t too many
five-WR sets to cover. The defense
rides a strong performance over
the last eight games of ’07
into this campaign, so picking
up where they left off seems
like a realistic proposition.

When
the schedule actually begins
on September 6th (South Carolina
State is a great school, but
doesn’t really count as
true competition for UCF), three
tough OOC foes make the first
seven games the most important
part of the Knight’s season.
South Florida and Miami are
great measuring sticks and in-state
foes who need to be annual rivals;
football heritage such as this
is important for a young program
(FAU also seems like a tailored
fit, another smaller state school
looking for the same leg up
into the regional/national spotlight
via legitimate competition).
The East Carolina Pirates and
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
shouldn’t be discounted
as serious threats, but neither
looks nearly as good as UCF.
Tulsa should be the main CUSA
competition, and if they are
an in-conference version of
a needed nemesis, then their
Sunday night tussle looks good
enough not too miss.

This
isn’t going to be a team
that sneaks up the BCS ladder.
That doesn’t mean they
won’t take even more incremental
steps toward improving the team’s
infrastructure. Making the transitions
on D after this year’s
exits will be vital, but the
speed and potential of these
last few classes promises the
future is still bright, even
with that much turnover. This
school will fly under the radar
of your average college football
fan, so enjoy them as an underdog
while they still look up at
the bigger, older programs.

QUARTERBACK
Moving the ball here is going to continue
at the same methodical rate. What
will be new to their profile will
be a running QB, a sure way to make
it so the next running back has an
every-play distraction for creating
holes. When you have a guy like Kevin
Smith, you run it – like UCF
did – nearly two-thirds of the
time. Even with Mike Greco and Phillip
Smith composing the new backfield,
the Knights won’t continue running
it so much. Greco has lightning speed,
and in his first outing for UCF, he
was 11-of-12 for 151 yards, with 10
carries for 77 yards on top of that.
This spring revealed his decision-making
is decent, but he doesn’t have
much precision to his deeper throws.
The flip side is Joe Weatherford,
the brother of FSU’s Drew and
a pro-style passer with decent mobility.
Greco is exciting to watch and full
of potential, so he will have to fail
miserably before Weatherford is given
full reign.

RUNNING
BACK
The newest Knight RB named Smith (Phillip)
is a capable runner who will find
the CUSA defenses as easy to get through
as his predecessor did. Brynn Harvey
looks like a serious threat, as does
Jayson Williams and his skill set
(he’s the most complete back).
Ricky Kay is two-back window dressing
who pushes more than he produces.
Kay gets a personal test with the
new backfield – is he a good
enough blocker to again have UCF lead
the conference in rushing? With the
revampings along the line, Kay could
be a pivotal factor.

RECEIVER
The best dimension on this side of
the ball has to be the experienced
receiving corps. Ross and Aiken have
their roles set – Kamar will
be even better after stretching the
field so well as a freshman, and Rocky
is tough over the middle as a ‘go
to’ type. Watters is pushing
both for reps after his huge spring.
He might be the fastest Knight. Haynes
also looks like he could break out
if Greco/Weatherford can get him the
rock deep, which is where he will
be most effective with his 6’4
frame.

OFFENSIVE
LINE
Brown is going to be the anchor at
left tackle. Mike Lavoie and Cody
Minnich may be seniors, but neither
has ever started and both have limited
(mostly special teams) experience.
DeVane and Minnich are being pushed
hard by their backups, obviously a
good thing for the prospects of this
group having depth. Jah Reid is about
the biggest guy in the conference.
He lost 50 lbs of fat since arriving,
allowing him the range to earn some
starts and Freshman All-CUSA status.
TE Corey Rabazinski further grounds
the line; the Winter Park product
isn’t a blazer but proves effective
in the patterns he runs.

Coordinator
Tim Salem gets his own test since
he can’t give Kevin Smith the
rock nearly every play anymore (he
now has an FBS all-time single-season
high for carries with 450). There
goes ball control. Balance has to
be found, for if one dimension is
again ranked 9th (rushing) as the
other is ranked 105th (passing), the
offense will not be running anywhere
near optimally.

OT
Patrick Brown

UCF
2008 DEPTH CHARTReturning Starters/Key
Players

OFFENSE

QB

Michael
Greco-Jr (6-3, 220)

Joe
Weatherford-Fr (6-4, 200)

FB

Ricky
Kay-So (6-3, 245)

..

TB

Phillip
Smith-So (6-1, 194)

Ronnie Weaver-Fr (6-0, 202)

WR

Kamar
Aiken-So (6-2, 205)

Brian
Watters-So (6-2, 183)
Khymest Williams-So (5-10, 175)

WR

Rocky
Ross-Sr (6-2, 196)

Sidney
Haynes-So (6-4, 214)
A.J. Guyton-So (5-11, 188)

TE

Corey
Rabazinski-Jr (6-3, 243)

Adam
Nissley-Fr (6-6, 260)

OT

Patrick
Brown-Jr (6-5, 292)

Mike
Buxton-So (6-8, 314)

OG

Jeramy
DeVane-Jr (6-3, 300)

Nick
Pieschel-Fr (6-7, 296)

C

Mike
Lavoie-Sr (6-5, 292)

Ian
Bustillo-Jr (6-2, 312)

OG

Cody
Minnich-Sr (6-3, 296)

Wes
Tanuufi Sauvao-So (6-3, 300)

OT

Jah
Reid-So (6-7, 320)

Billy
Offutt-Fr (6-6, 305)

K

Jordan
Dodds-So (5-11, 210)

..

2008
DEFENSE

Dave
Huxtable returns to the coordinators
chair after being the main assistant
on D for the past four years. Huxtable
has lots of experience at the FBS
level, working with O’Leary
at Georgia Tech as his DC from 1996-97.
"It is a real nice feeling knowing
that we have nine returning starters.
It's been helpful for the younger
kids this spring to be able to watch
those older kids play the positions
and make the adjustments. The younger
kids are learning from the older kids
so hopefully now that…can give
us some help in the fall," Huxtable
says.

DEFENSIVE
LINE
The front seven has five returning
starters and two guys on the line
who know the ins and outs real well.
End Bruce Miller had the most consistent
effort in ’07 of those who come
back. Nall is fast enough that he
started at linebacker, but they have
him back up front now, probably as
a hybrid that can drop back with TEs
and extra receivers. The biggest surprise
for spring was backup LB David Williams
vaulting past Nall for the first-team
designation. Both of these guys use
a tireless motor to overcome marginal
size issues. JUCO transfer Geathers
passed on Oklahoma State and N.C.
State to come here. Inside, Huxtable
can bank on a pair of junior double-Ts
from Georgia. Torrell Troup didn’t
start last year, but he did so during
his true freshman year. Troup is in
place of departee Shologan, so he
will have to pick up his effort to
provide the same stopping power. Troup’s
size is important so that Travis Timmons
can wreak havoc. Timmons is looking
like a breakout player, and his ability
to line up on the outside will allow
the staff to be more creative with
assignments/responsibilities. The
same goes for Wallace’s large-but-fast
talents; the inside depth isn’t
so strong, so bodies are being tried
out (Harndin bumping up from LB seems
an iffy proposition.)

LINEBACKER
The three main LBs started six games
together in ’07. Ex-DB Hallman
was just too good not to push his
talents further into the box, so as
a true frosh, he proved he is the
future of the corps for a few years
to come. Hallman breaking out even
more will compliment senior Cory Hogue,
who isn’t quite as fast as Hallman.
Chance Henderson has the most accomplishments
on which to hang his helmet; his first
year as an upperclassman and leader
will prove to be fruitful for the
rest of his teammates. Ex-QB Alex
Thompson left the hotbed of football
in his hometown of Gainesville to
be a bigger fish in the smaller Orlando
pond. He and Jordan Richards –
who missed all of last year due to
a shoulder problem – make this
a deep enough crew that the second
team can do as well as the starters.

DEFENSIVE
BACK
The secondary will get another new
position coach, the third one in the
past three years. Gary Blackney was
Bowling Green’s head coach,
and he gets a veteran group that is
possibly the best in CUSA. The corners
are the conference’s top pair
– six INTs for each is the new
school mark for outside starters.
The two seniors can each be left alone
with no worries after combining for
73 starts over their careers here
(these four comprised the first team
for every game but one). Joe Burnett
is the school’s second leading
all-time pickoff artist and an All-American
for it. The Knights were third in
the FBS with 24 INTs. Baldwin’s
stat line outshines Allen’s
efforts, but Allen is the most often
used nickel back for a reason. The
safety and corner starters have all
started at least six games apiece
in each of the past three years…a
group that knows each other’s
tendencies. Rahsad and Venson as the
top tacklers in ’07 shows that
they can do the job, but if they have
to do as much again, the rest of the
defense will not be keeping up their
end(s). That isn’t as likely
with so many starters back. Weams’
move from corner to safety shows his
ability in one-on-one and how it now
goes with his ability to manage a
huge amount of defensive space.

After
this D gave up 52 and 64 against ECU
and USF, respectively, in weeks six
and eight, they then held the No.1
offense in the nation – Tulsa
– to 23 points. Later, they
held the Golden Hurricanes to 25 points
in another winning effort in the conference
finals; from that first game against
Tulsa onward, UCF held all of their
foes to 31 points or under, allowing
an average of just under 23 points
per game during that span after the
Knights had allowed over 35 per game
over their first six contests. The
bottom line of that statistical barrage
is that UCF is on a defensive roll
and has so many starters and reserves
back – no freshman inhabits
the two-deep – it’s ridiculous
how much better they could become.

DE
Bruce Miller

UCF
2008 DEPTH CHARTReturning Starters/Key
Players

DEFENSE

DE

David
Williams-So (6-2, 234)

Darius
Nall-So (6-3, 230)

DT

Travis
Timmons-Jr (6-4, 285)

Antonio
Wallace-Sr (6-2, 251)

DT

Torrell
Troup-Jr (6-3, 320)

T.J.
Harnden-Jr (6-3, 242)

DE

Bruce
Miller-So (6-2, 249)

Jarvis
Geathers-Jr (6-2, 215)

OLB

Derrick
Hallman-So (6-0, 205)

Jordan
Richards-Jr (6-2, 226)

MLB

Chance
Henderson-Jr (6-1, 241)

Alex
Thompson-Jr (6-2, 231)

OLB

Cory
Hogue-Sr (6-1, 228)

Lawrence
Young-So (6-0, 212)

CB

Johnell
Neal-Sr (5-11, 176)

Emery
Allen-Jr (5-9, 176)

CB

Joe
Burnett-Sr (5-11, 185)

Darin
Baldwin-So (6-0, 190)

SS

Sha'reff
Rashad-Sr (6-0, 198)

Reggie
Weams-So (6-0, 187)

FS

Jason
Venson-Sr (5-10, 211)

Breon
Rogers-Sr (6-3, 207)

P

Blake
Clingan-So (6-3, 221)

Parker
Langley-So (5-11, 176)

2008
SPECIAL TEAMS

The
punting game is healthy under Blake Clingan’s
care. As just a frosh, he was steady and
long; expectations for an even better showing
this year are high. The new blood at placekicker
has big shoes to fill. Local product Jordan
Dodds returns from South Carolina to tentatively
hold onto the spot, but he has two freshmen
breathing down his neck. Joe Burnett as
a PR is consistent and a good safety valve
for fakes. Khymest Williams and Darin Baldwin
on kick returns are proven commodities,
with Williams eclipsing Baldwin after each
had eight tries last year.